Chasing Light
by A Blazing Star
Summary: Dustpaw, an apprentice of ThunderClan,found herself lost in the tunnels, badly hurt. After being saved by Fallen Leaves and a band of rogues that had fallen in as she had, Dustpaw joins their search of a way back home. But when the group starts to get murdered one by one, Dustpaw must unearth the hidden secrets and feuds between the group... before the killer destroys them all.


**A/N: Hello there guys. Colonel reporting in. And this is my new story - Chasing Light. I have planned it to be a shorter story than Sight of the Past, but there is going to be a sequel and hopefully it may become a trilogy. So without further ado, let's start the story. Please do R&R, as I do want some constructive criticism. Also, please show your support by clicking that follow/favorite button. This simple act does motivate me and it would really make my day.**

**P.S. I would need some OCs. They should mostly be rouges, but I could accept a few Clan cats. Try not to use ThunderClan, as I really only have space for one to two. Kittypets are also accepted.**

Dustpaw crept silently in the woods, intent on keeping herself hidden. The wood in leaf-bare was calm and frigid, and missing was the noise of the rustling leaves which normally overshadows the whole forest, now only the few bare branches obstructed the cold, grey sky. Ignoring the intense rush of adrenaline in her head, she focused instead on keeping her paws calm and steady, knowing that any noise would alert her prey of her presence. She looked around, reassuring herself that there were no twigs or leaves around to produce any noise. Taking one last look at her prey, a nice, juicy mouse, nibbling a nut under a bush, the black she-cat bunched her muscles and pounced, unsheathing her claws on her way...

And missed. The mouse had sensed the Dustpaw's vibration and scuttled away, causing the distraught apprentice to stumble and lose her balance. _No!_ She thought as she turned to pursue the elusive mouse. _How on StarClan am I going to finish my warrior assignment now?_

She ran across the forest at top speed, kicking up snow as she chased the mouse. _How lucky is it for me to have my first assignment at leaf-bare_. She remarked bitterly inside her head. Her mentor, Leafstorm, had said that the snow would make the assignment more challenging, and so he insisted that Dustpaw should go out for her assignment. A few other unlucky apprentices were also pushed out into the cold for their assignments by their mentors. I_ncluding that annoying Redpaw as well._ Dustpaw smiled at the thought of the elder apprentice freezing in the cold as she continued her chase.

Dustpaw had just rounded a bend when she lost the mouse. Frustrated, she sniffed around, hoping to locate the mouse somewhere, hiding, that was when she detected an unfamiliar scent... The scent of...

A fox.

She backtracked, hoping that she could somehow elude the fox and slip away silently, but then she crashed into a wall of warm fur. Startled, she turned around, only to be met with the dark, beady eyes of the fox. She froze, unable to move due to the raw fear coursing through her body.

"Look out!" Leafstorm's yowl jerked Dustpaw out of her stupor. She blinked, and her mentor sailed over her head, claws unsheathed. The warrior collided with the fox and they both fell on the ground, yowling and screeching. Dustpaw was about to rush over to help when Leafstorm snarled and leapt up to the russet-fur fox, digging his claws on the creature's back. The fox shook, trying to throw off the warrior, but to no avail. Finally, the fox decided to slam his back to a tree in a desperate attempt to get rid of Leafstorm. The nimble warrior, however, jumped off the fox at the last minute. The fox crashed into the tree and immediately was still, blood pouring out from a wound on its head.

As soon as the body crashed to the ground, Leafstorm was already reprimanding the apprentice.

"I'm very disappointed in you," he said quietly. "A warrior should always, always look behind his or her back. I'm surprised that you missed that fox's scent. Just think, if I am not here to save you, what would happen?"

The warrior was too concentrated in scolding Dustpaw that he didn't notice the dark shape looming behind him... Dustpaw opened her mouth to warn her mentor, but she was too late.

The giant paw of the fox connected with Leafstorm, cutting him off mid-syllable. The limp body of the warrior was flung off mercilessly and collided with a solid rock.

"Leafstorm! No!" Dustpaw yowled as she rushed over to her mentor's side, instinctively shielding her clanmate with her body. The apprentice then bent down and licked the wounded warrior's nose, hoping that the simple act could rouse her mentor. Leafstorm, however, remained inert, although a thin trickle of crimson fluid seeped from the corner of his mouth, soaking his tabby fur red.

The fox, on the other hand, continued stalking the two cats, its teeth bared and glinting in the sunlight. Although the logical side of Dustpaw told her that she must stay and defend her mentor, the mental trauma was ultimately too much for the apprentice, and Dustpaw could feel her leg shaking. At last, Dustpaw couldn't take it anymore, and she ran away from the fox, praying to StarClan that she could somehow escape, and maybe by some miracle, meet a patrol.

However, the fox, excited by Dustpaw's sudden movement, chased after the apprentice, yipping. Dustpaw could feel the fox's hot breath on her as she plowed through the thick snow, spraying the fox, who was hot on her heels, with frosty white powder.

Dustpaw ran like a WindClan cat, desperately trying to find somewhere to hide from the fox, which was gaining on her, when she felt an excruciating pain on her leg. She stumbled and fell, stunned, but still the momentum of her sent her rolling into a hole, no bigger than the apprentice herself. Thunder crashed above Dustpaw. _The sky is falling!_ And the next thing she knew, the darkness was all around her, throwing her feeble body onto the ground and threatening to suffocate her. She could taste blood in her mouth as the pressure steadily increased, crushing her bones as it did.

Then the sky opened up and swallowed her whole.

* * *

><p>A huge noise rumbled in the tunnels, rousing Fallen Leaves from his sleep. The tom shook his head, clearing the feathers on his head and his drowsiness as well. Although he didn't have to sleep, sometimes it is just simply relaxing to lie down and forget about the cold tunnel walls around him.<p>

_There hasn't been a cave-in for a while..._ Fallen Leaves thought as he heaved himself up, scattering the feathers covering his body everywhere. Silently, the tom crept out of his den, and started walking towards where the voice originated, as he had done for so many times in the passing moons. But this time as he brushed some of the debris off, his eyes immediately widened at the sight of black fur, the same tattered black pelt that he had seen seasons ago, in the tunnels, and the same that lay broken and bleeding in front of him, when all that he could do was to only look helplessly at the body. Then suddenly all the grief and loneness welled up inside him, and he cried out the one name that he had longed for so long in his heart, who he thought had died long ago.

"Hollyleaf!"

**A/N: This is the form for OC Submission.**

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Gender:**

**Rogue, Kittypet or Clan cat?:**

**(Applicable to Clan cats only)Former Clan:**

**(Applicable to Clan cats only)Rank:**

**Appearance:**

**Personality:**

**Please note that all OCs may be killed anytime. Sorry.**


End file.
